Latest State of Play Columns

In the world of national security, it can’t all be so serious, so here’s a preview of what’s waiting for you in this week’s Dead […] More

This expert-driven national-security insight can’t be generated for free.  We invite you to support quality content by becoming a  Cipher Brief Level I Member .  Joining […] More

MOVIE REVIEW: The Spy Behind Homeplate (a documentary) by James Periard James Periard served over 25 years in the Central Intelligence Agency as a Case […] More

This is Cipher Brief Level I Member Only content. It can be accessed via login or by signing up to become a Cipher Brief Member.  […] More

It was an operation that took more than a year to execute.  Find out how the CIA’s former Deputy Director finally penetrated Winterfell, in The […] More

I was introduced to Jimmy Hatch via email in late 2014.  I was months away from launching The Cipher Brief and a mutual friend who […] More

Former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell is debuting season two of his popular podcast ‘Intelligence Matters’ in partnership with CBS News this week.  The Cipher […] More

Wartime has been a force multiplier for espionage ever since the Revolutionary War, when General George Washington was the founding father of the art of […] More

The Cipher Brief’s State of Play series encompasses reviews of the books, movies and TV shows that help shape our understanding of the national security […] More

As General Douglas MacArthur famously said, “Old soldiers don’t die, they just fade away.” In the world of fiction, old spies don’t die or fade […] More

If you don’t know what a Stukka Dive Bomber sounds like, you will never forget its eerie, piercing wail after watching Dunkirk. It is sound, […] More

Retired Admiral James Stavridis believes the Trump Administration fails to recognize the importance of our oceans.  In his new book Sea Power: The History and […] More

Graham Allison’s ominously titled Destined for War fulfills an implied promise made by his seminal Atlantic magazine article 18 months ago. That article was labeled […] More

In Alex Berenson’s new thriller, The Prisoner, his hero John Wells goes undercover in a European prison to smoke out a CIA mole who is […] More

Enhanced Interrogation: Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying to Destroy America is a firsthand account of the CIA’s controversial interrogation program […] More

This week, The Cipher Brief’s Executive Producer and Reporter Leone Lakhani speaks to John Nixon, author of “Debriefing The President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein.” […] More

This week The Cipher Brief’s Executive Producer and Reporter Leone Lakhani speaks to John Nixon, author of “Debriefing The President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein.” […] More

“Rise of the Machines: A Cybernetic History” (2016) tells the story of cybernetics, a control theory of man and machine devised by mathematician Norbert Wiener […] More

Conventional wisdom suggests Asia’s increasing wealthy and educated population will make it the most dynamic region of the world and that it will drive the […] More

On November 8 last year, Donald Trump upended the American political system with his surprising electoral victory over Hillary Clinton. That result has raised many […] More

The fighting in Syria – and ever-rising death toll of civilians caught in the middle – is so horrifying that many seemingly have chosen to […] More

When the Cipher Brief folks asked me to review the latest “Tom Clancy” novel, I was hesitant.  I already have a pile of books that […] More

Let me start this with a confession: this is my first movie review.  It’s not something I thought I would ever do, but I was […] More

As January 20th approaches, America prepares for a new Commander-in-Chief, who will face one of the most difficult foreign policy landscapes since the end of […] More